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Guam Mayors Wait For Funding To Remove Abandoned Vehicles On Side Roads

In Inajaran, people are displeased with the sight of a white Toyota Corolla that has been stripped of many of its parts and left abandoned along Route 4. The vehicle is only one of the abandoned cars which the mayor wants to get rid off through a junk hauling business as soon as he gets money from the Guam Environmental Protection Agency.

According to Angel Sablan, Mayor’s Council
of Guam executive director, about $1.3 million from the annual vehicle
registration fees will be used to collect junk cars, used tires, household
waste and other kinds of trash in 2020. Mayors are eagerly waiting for funding
so that they can start cleaning their villages.

Last fiscal year’s funding was used up by the mayors and they have to wait for this year’s funding to be able to clean up neighbourhoods. Residents are anxious for the clean-up program to start because of the items left on the sides of roads including those from their homes. Sablan told the residents to be patient and wait before hauling items out of their homes. The mayors will announce the start of the clean-up program.

Inajaran Mayor Doris Lujan is trying to
remove the abandoned vehicle because it has been on the side road for almost a month.
It is very likely that the vehicle has broken down and the owner decided to
simply leave it by the side road. Lujan said that she might have some
information on the vehicle owner and will meet with the person for payment of
its removal.

Lujan wants the abandoned vehicle to be
removed as soon as possible and not wait for the availability of funding.
Village fiesta is coming up and she wants her village to be presentable to
visitors. If the owner of the vehicle cannot be found, Lujan plans to ask for money
from the Municipal Planning Council. Another option is to move the abandoned vehicle
to another place while waiting for funding.

Illegal dumping remains rampant in Guam because
people believe that it is the government’s responsibility to clean up their
yards. In Dededo, the number of abandoned cars and tires is increasing because
people pass the responsibility to their government.